On December 19, Pope Benedict XVI signed decrees extolling the heroic virtues of Pope Pius XII, Pope John Paul II, and several other holy men and women. This gives the former popes the title of "venerable," the first step toward sainthood.
The next step toward becoming a saint is beatification. According to CatholicReference.net, beatification is “a declaration by the Pope as head of the Church that one of the deceased faithful lived a holy life and/or died a martyr's death and is now dwelling in heaven.” This step involves proving the person posthumously performed a miracle that cannot be explained by modern science. (Alternatively, the candidate may be determined to be a martyr, who died for his or her faith.) In the case of John Paul II, the miracle under consideration by the pope and the Congregation for the Causes of Saints involves a French nun who was cured of Parkinson's disease in 2005.
While many faithful and non-faithful around the world support the eventual canonization of John Paul II, who is credited with doing much to end Communist rule in Europe and building bridges with the Jewish and other communities, Pope Pius is another story. Jewish groups around the world are protesting Benedict's decree, claiming that Pius did not do enough to prevent the genocide of Jews during the Holocaust.
According to Ronald Lauder, president of the World Jewish Congress, "As long as the archives about the crucial period 1939 to 1945 remain closed, and until a consensus on his actions—or inaction—concerning the persecution of millions of Jews in the Holocaust is established, a beatification is inopportune and premature. . . . While it is entirely a matter for the Catholic church to decide on whom religious honors are bestowed, there are strong concerns about Pius XII's political role during world war two which should not be ignored."
In June of this year, Jesuit Father Peter Gumpel, a leading supporter of the beatification of Pius, blamed pressure from Jewish groups for Pope Benedict’s delaying of the beatification. According to Gumpel, representatives of Jewish organizations such as the World Jewish Congress and the Anti-Defamation League had warned the pope that "relations between the Catholic church and Jews would be definitively and permanently compromised" by progressing Pius' cause. At the time, the Vatican issued a statement denying that Jewish concerns were holding up the beatification.
The move toward beatifying Pius adds to recent tensions between the Catholic and Jewish communities. Earlier this year, Pope Benedict lifted the excommunication of a known Holocaust-denying cleric, Richard Williamson, in an attempt to reintegrate the controversial separatist group Society of St. Pius X into the Catholic fold.
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